The new-look Club World Cup with 32 teams will be played in 12 stadiums in 11 American cities next year, culminating in the final in New Jersey's Met Life Stadium, the ruling body FIFA said on Saturday.
The announcement was made at the Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park in the presence of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, actor Hugh Jackmann and music producer DJ Khaled. The other venues for the June 15-July 13 tournament are in Miami, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte,Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Orlando which has two venues. Infantino said that "a new chapter in football's global history will be written" as the event is expanded from previously seven teams.
But there are also concerns because the tournament adds to an already condensed match calendar, and top players will have no real summer break.
It is also still open who will broadcast the matches. The draw for eight groups is scheduled for December. The Club World Cup also serves as a test for the 2026 World Cup which the US hosts together with Mexico and Canada.
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